Our 360

[Bryan]

Jb1974:
How often are you changing out the radiums.

[jb1974]

Bryan: Longivety of the Radium bulbs were a concern to us and after running Radiums on Blueline E-Ballasts for 12 hours a day we found that although the corals kept growing well, the colour on some of the corals would fade at the nine month mark. The colour did not disappear, it just wasn't as vibrant. We did not know how long to run them for initially, but now we realize that 10 hours would have been fine. Therefore on Blueline E ballasts the Radiums should last 12 months and on PFO HQI ballasts every 9 months as they are obviously being over driven (longer if you are not concerned over minor color loss). We have been experimenting for three months now with supplementing 250W Iwaski's. We run the Iwaski's from 11-6, Radiums 5-10 to save on bulb changes (hopefully) and hydro costs. We'll know the results in a year or so, but we're hoping that the bulbs will last 16 months with this configuration and colour does not seem to have been sacrificed. This is just our experience and YMMV.

Spikehs: Here's a closer shot of our rose [img]smile.gif[/img]



[ 09 August 2002, 22:21: Message edited by: jb1974 ]

[Bryan]

JB1974:

I was thinking of using a 250 Iwasaki in the middle, but Stephan felt it would take away from the beauty of the Radiums and yellow the color.

However, I like your idea of using the Iwasaki's for part of the shift. During the day when not home who cares what the tank looks like.

What is your opinion on starting off with 10 hours a day and adding 15 - 30 minutes per month. I wonder if one could push the bulb to the 12 month mark by finishing off the life of the bulb at ~14 hours a day.

BTW are you supplmenting with any VHO lighting.

[jb1974]

Bryan,

Boosting the photoperiod near the end of the bulbs life sounds like an interesting way (as long as you don't mind the hydro, I run 5 of them so I cannot do this as there are heating issues LOL!) to lengthen the life of the bulb. I would try it, as the extension in photoperiod may make up for the reduction in blue spectrum (it'll still be there, just not as much) in the later months.

With our set-up the bulbs are staggered in odd-numbers (5 R, 3 I) which I think makes the display look nice. In fact, the iwasakis do not detract at all from the radiums. If I had a whack load of $$ to spend on hydro I would run all the bulbs LOL! However, I am not sure this would be the case with 400W iwasakis as the yellow may be a bit much and the differences may be noticeable, i haven't seen this set-up so I am not entirely sure. A friend of mine will be doing a 400w Iwasaki coupled with 4 radiums on his new cube, so I am interested to see that :)I guess the key to making both Kelvins looks OK is to either use a dual reflector or mount the bulbs as close as possible while still maintaining adequate spread. I must admit though, when you run just the radiums the colors are more vibrant as the iwasaki washes them out ever so slightly.

I do not run VHO's. Thats how I rationalized this bulb switch to my husband ;) If I were to run 1600 watts of iwasaki I would need at least 800watts of VHO actinic to get the tank looking how I like (I favor a more white-blue appearance that may not appeal to all) so that would be 2400watts (and those VHO's need to be changed even more often than radiums). I run at peak times (only an hour) 2750 watts and the rest of the time either 1200 or 2000 which works out to be less anyhow and I get point-source lighting.

So thats why we chose this lighting. I guess all lighting decisions have their pros and cons though. It just depends on what you as an individual like [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10 August 2002, 08:32: Message edited by: jb1974 ]

[Bryan]

jb1974:

Thanks for the info, I think I will go for the 2 radiums with a Iwsaki in the middle, I might supplement the Iwasaki with a couple of actinics or PC's to cut the yellow.

I think I will adopt your lighting cycle and power the Iwasaki 4 -5 hours a day. This way I get the boost in coral growth the Iwasaki's provide.

BTW Have you tried the Radiums on a regular ballast and if so what did you think.

BTW again, if I was your friend I think I would forgo the Iwasaki 400's for 250's. From my expereience with the 400's they really need a lot of supplementary actinics to balance out the yellow. And boy do the Iwasaki 400's put out a lot of heat.